Ah Diego he sure likes to talk
by emmarae3579
Summary: NWZ: Zorro's depressed, Diego's impatient...can Victoria help? Not much action, just angsty romance.
1. Talk - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Zorro, nor do I make any money from writing this story. Dialogue and situations used from the episode are property of ZPI, the rest of the story is my property and cannot be printed or used without my permission.

Author's Note: Set about a year after Affair to Remember. Sorry for more angst…maybe I'll get to be in a funny mood again once I get these stories finished. I do have at least one funny one started. And how long are chapters supposed to be? tell me if you don't like it. Or if you do.

zzz

Zorro stepped out of the shadows of the kitchen and Victoria's exhaustion at the end of a long day disappeared. He held open his arms and she rushed into them, eager to feel loved and cherished if only for a few minutes. After taking comfort in listening to his calm, healthy heartbeat, she looked up into his eyes and eagerly accepted his kiss.

All too soon, he was pulling away. She grew concerned at the look on his face. "Zorro, is something wrong? Are they looking for you?"

He shook his head. "No, no one knows I'm in the pueblo tonight."

"So why are you here? What is the alcalde up to now?"

Zorro smiled a little, but still looked worried. And sad. "I shouldn't have come. I'm not here for the alcalde." She blushed prettily and he brought a hand up to caress her cheek. His eyes diverted from her face and he looked at his own hand. He quickly dropped it and started pulling away from her, as if he felt guilty for touching her. Victoria looked at his bowed head, now hidden by his hat. She picked up his hand and held it to her cheek again, closing the distance between them when he tried to step away.

"Zorro, what's wrong? I can tell something's bothering you. You can tell me. Maybe I can help!" When he still didn't say anything, she prodded him more. "I want to help you. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"Everything about this is wrong. Don't you see?" Zorro sighed. "I shouldn't even be here. I'm putting both of us in danger by coming to see you. And you shouldn't want to help me. I'm a criminal. An outlaw with a price on my head. If you help me, you're going to get in trouble and hang right next to me if we get caught. People will do a lot for 6000 pesos."

Victoria tried to cheer him up. "Don't talk like that. You're not going to get caught."

Diego chuckled at her optimism. "Ah, Querida. Do you realize the danger you're in because of me? The alcalde throws you in jail and tries to use you to get to me every chance he gets. I'm going to wind up getting you killed. You don't deserve that. I should—"

Victoria covered his mouth with her hands to keep him from finishing. "But we talked about this. You made a promise to me. Don't you remember?" When he just looked at her sadly, she felt on the verge of tears and stuttered over her words. "I… I thought we cared for each other. Of course I want to be with you. I don't care about the alcalde. I… I love you. Don't you …" she looked down at her hands, anxiously wringing the apron she still wore and trying to keep from crying.

"Ah, Victoria. I love you very much." He started to touch her cheek again and instead looked at his hand held a few inches away from her face. "You know, I hate wearing these gloves. I hate it all. I can't feel your skin when I stroke your cheek. I can't take you for a picnic at siesta. I can't sit with you in front of the fire at the end of a long day. I can't stand up with you in front of the church."

Victoria took his hand in hers and slowly removed his glove. She placed his hand back where it should be on her cheek, this time skin to skin. "You only have to take it off," she said quietly. "You can take the mask off, too. We can do all of that."

Diego watched her for a few seconds. "Have you thought about that much?" When she went to agree immediately, he interrupted her. "Have you really thought it through? You know I don't wear this mask every day." The smile on her face dimmed, and Diego forged ahead despite the fear of rejection. "You say you love Zorro, but I'm not Zorro. He's only a hero. If I took off the mask, I'd be an ordinary man with a price on his head. Would you still marry him?"

"Zorro, I told you I would. I don't care who you are."

"If we ever married, no matter what, the alcalde would suspect your husband was Zorro." He sighed again. "I was a fool to ever drag you in to this. I'm starting to think it will never be over."

Victoria held him for a moment, then brightened again. "We could have a fight. I could tell Zorro I was tired of waiting, tired of loving an outlaw. Maybe get mad at you for putting me in danger—though it's not true!" She put her own hand to his cheek when he cringed. "Everyone would hear. I can make everyone believe I don't love you anymore. I can be quite the actress! I know we could do it."

"But how long would you want to act?"

Victoria was confused. "We wouldn't have to wait long. You come in a few times, try to make up with me and I will throw you out. It will be over. Then the ordinary man can start visiting, and I fall in love with someone new. The alcalde will never suspect, and he'll stop using me as Zorro bait." She laughed, but it died quickly when he still didn't smile back at her. "We could make it convincing. It wouldn't take much."

"Zorro is still needed here. Would you be able to act like you don't care if your husband is surrounded by twenty soldiers? Whose name would you call out to save my life?" He hated to see the worry and fear creep into her eyes . "Or what about when I'm not wearing the mask and don't carry a sword? When I do nothing as myself so I can come back as Zorro so my family isn't hurt because I stand up to the Alcalde?"

Victoria's heart ached for him. "I never thought about that before." She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest to give him comfort and to comfort herself. "But there has to be a way. Like you said, even now the Alcalde tries to use me against you. I'm already in danger. But now, I worry every night if you're safe or hurt and alone. I wonder if I'll ever see you again." She looked back up at him, still holding him tightly so he couldn't get away. "If we were married, you wouldn't be alone. I can learn to control my emotions better…I promise. I could stay away when you're fighting as Zorro… I wouldn't want to give away your secret. I hate that you carry this alone. Let me help.. Give me a chance. Give us a chance. Please? "

Zorro thought about what she said as he stroked her silky hair with his bare hand. Holding her, he allowed himself to imagine being able to be with her in the daytime. He could hold her and read by the river during siesta. He could hold her and _not_ read by the river during siesta. And all night.

He had to think, and he couldn't do that with her so close. He squeezed her tight, then set her away from him. He didn't look at her as he donned the hated black glove again. He turned toward the door with barely a glance at her.

"Zorro!" He stopped, but didn't turn around. "Will you… will I see you again?"

Zorro turned around and his chest ached to see the tears in her eyes. "Yes, Querida. I'll see you tomorrow. I need to…I have to think." She sunk into a chair because her legs could not support her anymore.

zzz

Diego fidgeted with the ruffles on his shirt in front of the mirror the next morning. Did he look alright? Which suit did Victoria like best? Aside from black silk, that is… Maybe he could go to Santa Paula and get a black caballero suit made… No. No more putting it off and giving in to fear. He'd find out if Victoria could love Diego once and for all.

The tavern was quiet, as it was approaching siesta. There were only a few customers left, and Victoria was slicing vegetables behind the counter as he approached. "It's a quiet day for Los Angeles it seems." He said with a forced cheer to cover his nerves.

"Yes, it has been a peaceful day." She smiled at him briefly before focusing once again on her vegetables. He tried to tell himself her distraction and worried appearance was good…that it meant she was really thinking about what they talked about last night. She needed to understand the risks involved if he was going to go through with this.

"Is everything alright?" he prodded her.

Victoria looked up again and set down her knife. "Oh, yes, Don Diego. I didn't sleep well last night. But everything is fine. Can I get you a drink?"

"No, not now. I was going to ride out to check on something. I set up some experiments I need to take care of. I was wondering if you could pack me a lunch." Then he stood taller as if he'd only now had a brilliant idea and had not been planning this since last night. "As a matter of fact, you look like you need a break. You should come with me. I think you'd love the view."

"Where are you going? What experiments?" Victoria asked curiously

"Ah, no. I didn't tell you. I'm not sure if my experiment worked or not. I won't spoil the surprise. Come with me!" He smiled at her and prayed she'd accept his invitation. They'd go out of the pueblo, so in case she wanted to scream at him they wouldn't be heard.

Victoria glanced at the last customer from the lunch crowd as he got up from the table and ambled outside. "You know, Diego, I think I might take you up on that. Maybe a long ride will help me sort out my thoughts."

"I'm a good listener, too, if you need to talk something out."

"Oh, Diego, it'll be alright. I think I've already worked it out. It'll all be better tonight. Let me get us some lunch. I'll be right back."

zzz

The ride to the cove was quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. Diego tugged at the collar of his shirt for the thousandth time. He couldn't seem to breathe. He had to force himself not to slow the horses as they approached their destination.

"Oh, Diego, it's beautiful!" Victoria said as she stared over the cliffs at the waves gently breaking below. They were standing at the top of a cliff, and fifty feet below she saw a beautiful white beach and crystal clear water. Diego grabbed the picnic basket and found some stairs hidden away in some bushes. "We're going down there? Is it safe?"

Diego held out a hand to her. "The stairs are new. I built them, and I made sure they are quite safe. There's even a railing for you to hold. Just don't look down!" He smiled at her as he lead the way down the steep wooden stairs built into the cliff.

"You built this? How? When? This doesn't seem like you at all, Diego." Diego smiled as he reached the bottom of the stairs and held out his hand for her as she joined him on the grass.

"Maybe I have hidden talents," he replied. He led her over to a rocky outcropping, and spread a blanket on a large rock for her to sit. Victoria leaned back on her hands and turned her face towards the warmth of the sun. It was perfect here. The smell of the fresh surf, the clear water, the isolation… She looked at the empty spot next to her, then watched Diego pace back and forth.

"Diego, we came here to relax. You don't look relaxed at all."

Diego paused to look at her, then resumed pacing. "Victoria, do you remember a few years ago when my fiancé from Spain came to California?"

"Yes, I do." She smiled at her friend. "I remember you told her you were in love with someone else. Are you going to tell me who it is?" She leaned forward eagerly. Diego was a nice, handsome man. He deserved to be happy. And after talking to Zorro last night, it looked like things might be looking up for her, too. If Diego was troubled about something, she wanted to help him.

"Well, I was hoping you might help me with something. Do you remember what else I said?" Diego asked, barely pausing in his pacing.

"Oh…Diego! You still haven't told her? You said she was in love with another man, but surely after all this time you've told her." She walked up to him to stop his pacing. If he was this shy, he was never going to approach her! "Diego, you have to give her the chance. You're quite the catch, you don't have to be so shy all the time. Maybe she's not in love with this other man anymore."

"It's not that simple, Victoria." Diego ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out how he should start. It all seemed so simple last night. He took her arm and led her back to the rock and sat next to her.

"What's complicated if you love her? Diego, any woman would be happy to have you as a husband. Tell me who it is. I'll talk to her for you!"

"Victoria, the problem is…" He gave a sharp chuckle and muttered so quietly she almost didn't hear "Always wanting to help." He got up and stalked to the surf line, then immediately turned back around to sit next to her again. "Well, I am very much in love with her. I'm afraid she won't love me. I'm afraid I'll lose her friendship. I'm afraid she'll be angry with me."

Victoria's brows knit together. "Why would she be angry?"

"Well, I may have…hidden some things from her," he said quietly, still not looking at her.

"Diego! Shame on you. I can understand if you're afraid to tell her you love her, but you can't lie to her. Then she won't believe anything you say." She put her hands over his where he was wringing them together restlessly. He relaxed his hands and took one of hers and held it in both of his, which seemed to relax him. He appeared to examine it intently, and she suppressed shivers when he stroked his fingers over the back of her hand, turning it to stroke her palm as well. "If she loves you though, she'll forgive you. You must be honest with her."

"I did it to protect her. But I never imagined waiting this long…" He said to her hand, not looking at her or at the beautiful scenery.

"Protect her from what, Diego? You're one of the richest men in California. You can't be ashamed of your family. You're kind, your tenants say you're a wonderful landlord. You're smart and help people increase their crops. You're not a criminal." She stopped abruptly in her defense of him when she saw him flinch.

She pulled her hand from his and turned his face to look at her. "Diego, you're not a criminal. Tell me. I'm your friend…nothing you say will change that."

"Promise?" He asked weakly. He put his hand on hers where it rested on his cheek and looked up at her again.

"Yes, Diego." She squeezed his hand encouragingly. "Now stop all this. Tell me who it is and what the problem is. We'll fix it." Victoria didn't like seeing her friend so distressed. He always found the bright side in a situation. He always cheered her up. Now she could return the favor.

He looked back out over the water again. "The problem is she _thinks_ she's in love with someone else, but really she's not."

"How can she think she's in love with someone else and you know she's not?" Victoria asked, confused. Something in the back of her mind was starting to make her agitated, though, and she shook her head to clear it.

"She's in love with a myth. A legend." Diego kept talking, slowly, clearly. He couldn't look at her, talking instead to the hand he still held. "I don't know if I should burden her with my secret. I don't know if I should spoil that and put her in danger. Risk her friendship. Risk her love." Victoria slowly started trying to pull her hand out of Diego's grasp, but he wouldn't let her go. "I always wanted to share this place with her, so I built stairs so I could bring her here one day."

Victoria interrupted him. "What experiments did you say you were doing down here?" she asked loudly, desperately.

"Victoria," He looked at her face, which was becoming more distressed by the second. He knelt in front of her, taking both of her hands even as she tried to pull away and started shaking her head in denial of anything he had to say. "Victoria, please…" He took a deep breath and dove in. "I am a master swordsman. I am an outlaw. There's a 6000 peso price on my head." She stopped pulling away from him and froze, wide eyes staring into his.

"I live in constant fear that my friends and family will be hurt to get to me." He continued even as he saw tears welling up in her eyes. "But I love you more than anything. I don't want to hide anymore. And I want to continue the discussion we started last night in your kitchen."

zzz

Author's Note 2:Apologies… I know it's not a nice place to end it… and it's only about half of what I've got. But I'm not sure if I like the direction I'm going in so I'm not posting it just yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Diego reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he'd given her a year ago. "I'm sorry I hid from you. I'm sorry I lied. I'm not the coward everyone thinks I am. But you know who I am. I love science and reading, painting and music…" he shrugged his shoulders as if the next bit was insignificant. "I simply happen to also know how to defend myself and those I care about."

He released her other hand to wipe away a tear that had fallen. "I stole the ring back this morning. Now the man of flesh and blood is asking you to marry him. The courage and passion of Zorro is mine. But so is the fear that you cannot love Diego without the mask."

"There are no experiments here?" Talk about stalling for time…

Diego laughed, and decided to let her stall. "No, I always wanted to bring you here. I needed an excuse. I finished the staircase last year, thinking it'd be over soon. I did do one experiment here last year." He stood and pulled her after him. Behind some rocks, hidden from view earlier, beautiful roses bloomed. "Some scientists have recently experimented with breeding roses. I tried …well… I know you like roses." She walked over to the bushes and stroked the soft petals, a shade of pink she'd never seen before. "They were supposed to be without thorns, but …well... not all experiments are successful."

"They're beautiful." For several minutes all that was heard were the waves lapping at the sandy beach. "So what happened? Why did you finally decide to tell me the truth?" She stayed kneeling by the roses, and he found it easier to talk when she wasn't looking at him.

"Felipe says I've been getting careless. He's always helped me, been Zorro's assistant." He clarified when she looked up at him in surprise. "He found the a fox in the cave which became Zorro's hideout. Anyway, he says I'm getting grouchy." He chuckled humorlessly. "I'm turning into the Diego I pretend to be. I'm always tired. Careless. Apathetic."

He waited till she turned back to the roses. "The other day I almost killed DeSoto." She gasped and stood up again to face him. "He's the reason I've had to keep up this charade for so long. I wanted it over. This last tax he tried to impose…he's never going to change. I came to my senses when I realized killing him might not bring a better alcalde. But I didn't know if I could keep going." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Felipe told me to go see you last night. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. You don't know how tempting you are. I didn't trust myself. Last night, you were so beautiful. And so confident everything would work out. All night I kept picturing you living at the hacienda. Making a home with me. I thought your idea might work. Once again I believed we might have a future. But that all depends on if you can love the ordinary man. One word from you and Zorro never rides again. But if he does, I know it's not an easy thing I ask you to accept."

Victoria walked up to him, seeing the pain and hope in his eyes. "I'm sorry you've had to deal with this alone. And for all the mean things people…I have said to Diego." She hesitantly stroked the lapels of his suit coat, laughing to herself about Diego's constant obsession with his clothes. He placed his hands on her waist, hoping that she wasn't about to reject him. When she finally reached up to put her arms around his neck and smiled up at him, Diego smiled down at her and wrapped his arms fully around her.

He brought his hand up to her cheek. "No gloves," she said happily.

She threaded her fingers into his hair. "No mask," he replied, focusing on her lips.

Diego told himself sternly to _behave _even as he bent his head to kiss her. They'd kissed before. This was no different. All thoughts of behaving flew across the ocean as soon as her lips gently touched his. Her hands were in his hair this time. He could feel the heat of her skin through the soft blouse she wore at her waist. She gasped when he tasted the seam of her lips and he took the kiss deeper.

She wasn't close enough, so he wrapped his arms tightly around her and lifted her against his body so he could get closer. Victoria was shocked when she felt the strength and the muscles in the man everyone thought was a weakling. The feel of his tongue stroking hers excited her and she felt powerful when her tongue stroked him back and he groaned. She still wasn't close enough, and Diego tried to remember why his hands shouldn't be stroking her back, feeling her hips, then lower to…

He made a sound of utter frustration as he broke the kiss and moved his arms back up around her waist. He held her a few more precious moments…foreheads touching… knees touching…and everything in between. Both breathing heavily, Victoria smiled even as she blushed all over. Who knew the mild-mannered Diego could make her feel like this? She curled her legs behind her as he held her off the ground, so happy at finally knowing that she was loved by a real man.

"Speaking of avoiding you…" Diego said roughly. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring you out here." He slowly set her down, savoring the feel of her so close for a few more seconds.

Victoria wrapped her arms around his waist, and he rested his cheek in her soft hair as they both tried to calm their breathing . "Well, Zorro never kissed me like that!"

"I'm sorry for losing control like that. My father would kill me if he knew I'd brought you here alone." Victoria stiffened in his arms and he let her go when she stepped back. "What's wrong? I promise you have nothing to fear from me. I'll behave now…I didn't mean to ..." He frowned and watched as she turned away from him to stand by the tide line and look out over the water. He bent down to pick up the ring he'd dropped into the sand in favor of more pleasurable things to hold.

"Victoria?" She had closed herself off from him in a heartbeat, standing with a sad look on her face and her arms crossed in front of her defensively.

"Your father…" she took a deep breath. "Your father won't approve." He could barely hear her she spoke so softly.

"That's why my father doesn't know. If you want me to tell him, I will. But I'm afraid it will hurt him." Diego tried to ease the tension out of her shoulders with his hands, and grew truly concerned when she shrugged him off of her and walked a few paces away and turned to glare at him.

"You can't keep marriage a secret. I didn't agree to that!" Diego had expected she might get angry with him for any number of reasons, but at the moment he had no idea why she was even angry.

"Keep our marriage a secret? Why would we do that?" Now it was Diego's turn to be confused. "I thought we were going to work on your plan from last night so we didn't have to hide?"

"You just agreed your father wouldn't approve!"

"Wouldn't approve of me being an outlaw. Of his only son risking my life. That's what I was talking about. What are you talking about? Why wouldn't he approve of our marriage? My father loves you, you must know that."

"You…you're a caballero." Diego shrugged. "You own one of the biggest rancheros in the territory." He shrugged again. Victoria laughed to herself. "I never imagined Zorro would be rich," she told the waves.

She looked back at Diego. "I don't even own the land the tavern is on. My parents saved all their lives to buy that tavern. This may be the new world, but I doubt your father will let you marry a peasant woman…a waitress."

"Victoria, now you're talking nonsense. You're a business owner. A successful one at that. I have no idea what you're talking about, but we can go tell my father now if you're so concerned. I wouldn't care if we lived in Madrid… I love you. No one is going to tell me who I can or cannot marry." He looked down at the ring in his hand and held it out to her. "Speaking of which, we kind of skipped the part where you answered me."

When she did nothing but stare at it, he stepped closer. "My mother's ring. Elena De La Vega. Doña Elena De La Vega. Who cares if she was Doñainstead of Señora? You will be Doña Victoria De La Vega. After all this, you're worried about titles?" She looked him in the eye again, but didn't interrupt as he went on.

"I guess.. I guess it doesn't have to change anything. I'd hoped you would hire a manager for the tavern, that you'd want to spend time with me at the hacienda. I want to share my life with you…" He paused, looking off into the ocean and running his hands through his hair again in frustration.

"The ranch, our tenants, our horses and cattle…they all mean a great deal to me. Diego might not seem interested because the alcalde keeps Zorro busy. But I'm proud of what my father's built here. I wanted it for my children…our children." He stared at the ring, closing it tightly in his fist. "but I know how much the tavern means to you. I thought… I don't know what I thought. Of all the things I was afraid of… I never considered this."

His shoulders slumped. "I thought you'd like being my wife. Like living at the hacienda." He sounded so sad, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around him again. "I guess we never talked about what happens after marriage. I dreamed of having company when I went out of town…when I visited my tenants and checked on the animals." He sighed deeply, his chin resting on her head. "I guess this is our second quarrel. I wonder if this is a bad omen for whenever we get more than five minutes alone together."

"Diego," she said into his chest, "does it really not matter to you?"

Diego waited for her to look up at him. "Do you really have doubts? You call me Diego all the time. You might call my father Don Alejandro… but we moved past titles ages ago. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel inferior to me. I never meant to."

"No, you never did. I guess I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed."

"I guess we could eat," Diego suggested after a moment. "After all, I did make you go through the trouble of packing us a lunch." He walked back to the rocks where he'd left the blanket and basket and started pulling out food.

"Our second romantic meal together. I have to say the location has improved." She said as she resumed her seat on the blanket. She looked at the ring, laying on the blanket where he'd dropped it. Diego was quickly covering the blanket with food and she grabbed the ring to keep it safe. Diego hesitated only briefly as he saw her pick up the ring. When the basket was empty, he set it aside.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: A friend is looking over Mendoza and I'll post another chapter of that shortly if she likes it. Not much here, but it's been awhile since I've updated it. But I gotta post this to get to the rest of the story, which I hope will be good...when I get it written. Kinda have writer's block. Finals coming up, so maybe I will be more creative once school stops sucking out my brain cells. Any non-writers have anything they ever wished might happen on the show? Like Victoria playing matchmaker...loved that idea. If you have any ideas, share :)

* * *

><p>Seeing her lost in thought, staring intently at the ring, Diego walked back over to the rose bushes to get some flowers to put on the blanket. Might as well try his best to romance her, since she obviously needed a little more persuasion.<p>

Victoria stared at the ring she'd had for over a year. Zorro had been right the day in the cave. She was in love with a legend. She was shamed to think of how swept up she became in the fantasy. She'd never thought about the woman who wore the ring before her, or what the man must be like when he wasn't Zorro. Even when she promised Zorro she'd love the man behind the mask, she didn't pay it enough thought. What Diego must go through, every day pretending. She could be mad at him for keeping this from her, but she knew he'd done it for the right reasons. He was so concerned with everyone else, he put his entire life on hold. He let everyone believe he was weak, that he couldn't fight or track or stand up against anything.

She looked up as Diego started walking back towards her. Focused on the roses he held, he wasn't looking at her. She smiled as she saw he was using a knife to carefully remove all the thorns. Now, she couldn't understand how she didn't see it before. Diego was always around, quietly diffusing situations and secretly helping people. The only time he wasn't there was when a little more action was required to diffuse a situation. That was why he had to act so different. No one would believe Diego was Zorro.

She stood as he came closer, holding up the ring as he held the flowers out to her. His face fell, confused as he took the ring from her after giving her the roses. She smiled, though, inhaling the fragrant flowers. "Ask me again." Preparing to do that immediately, Victoria stopped him with a laugh, sitting back down and getting comfortable on the blanket. "Oh, no, Mr. Romantic. In front of everyone. After you've convinced everyone in the pueblo you can't live without me, and you've driven away all talk of Victoria and Zorro. Then you can ask me again."

"And you will say…" Diego hinted, kneeling down again in front of her.

"Yes. Of course I'll say yes." Diego grinned at her, looking forward to that day. Her breath shuttered to a stop as his eyes darkened and dropped to her mouth. She stroked her fingers down his cheek, finding herself eager for another kiss, too. She started to lean toward him, but he abruptly stood up and started rearranging things on the blanket. "Diego?" she smiled weakly through her confusion. He didn't look up, so she pressed. "I believe it is customary to finish a marriage proposal with a kiss."

He was still quiet for several moments, and she looked down at her naked fingers. She wanted to wear his ring now. She wanted him to kiss her again. "We didn't tell anyone you were going to be gone. We need to eat and get back before you're missed," he said without looking at her.

How long does a kiss take? Victoria thought. She flushed. "Did I do something wrong?" It had seemed like he'd enjoyed kissing her… she'd definitely enjoyed it. But what did she know? Was she being too eager? Her face turned bright red, and she hugged her knees to her chest. She owned a tavern. She knew things. But her mother had died when she was young and she didn't know _that_ much.

"Victoria," Diego said quietly, finally satisfied with the food arrangement and taking a seat across the blanket from her. "If I kiss you again, it will be hours before we get back." She felt his eyes on her like a caress as his eyes crawled over every inch of her body. "_Volviendo loco_," he muttered under his breath. He came to his knees and leaned across the blanket to give her a peck on the forehead, then sat right back down far away from her. "Breakfast. It'd be breakfast before we got back." He grumbled, frustrated. So let's eat before I change my mind." It was a long time before Victoria could breathe again.

* * *

><p>They ate in silence for awhile, Victoria looking up at the rocky cliff face and out across the water while Diego mostly watched her. Finally, Diego decided he needed to distract himself. "So do you really think we could pull it off? Convince everyone you're done with Zorro and choosing the mild-mannered Diego over your dashing hero?"<p>

"You were right last night. It will be difficult," Victoria said, leaning back and looking up at the sky.

The bite he'd been eating turned to dust in Diego's mouth. "So you don't want to do it anymore?"

"Diego, I didn't say that. I agreed with you. You've never shown even the slightest interest in marriage." Diego shrugged. He seemed to do that a lot. The man obsessed over the smallest things, but putting his life in danger was nothing to him. She shook her head at the paradox. "Did you mean it when you said we'd tell your father? I think he could help."

Diego lay back on the blanket, pillowing his head on his hands and looking up at the sky. It really was getting late, but he found he didn't care when Victoria lay back as well, arranging herself so their heads were close together so they could talk. "Sometimes I think he'll be happy. He's always so ashamed of having a coward for a son. Other times I think of all the times I've lied to him…or that knowing his son is a criminal will break his heart."

Victoria twisted around to lay on her stomach, resting her chin on her hands so she could look at him. "I think your father is proud of you. He's always been a man of action. You're more scientific, even as Zorro. If you tell him who you are, he will know your experiments aren't foolish. He'll see how it all works to protect the people of California."

"I hope you're right. I've wanted to tell him. But like with you I didn't want to put that pressure on him." Diego reached a hand up to play with her hair and stroke her cheek. "It's difficult, Victoria, I hope you understand that. I've had to pretend not to care about things, to stand by and not step in when I wanted to. Even knowing I'd come back as Zorro when it was safe, it didn't make it any easier. Now you'll have to deal with that, too. People will call me a coward and you won't be able to say anything. The alcalde will try to capture me, lancers will shoot at me… you'll have to stay quiet. I never wanted to do that to you."

Victoria scooted closer, setting her elbow on the blanket and her head on her hand so she could look down at him. His hand stayed on the blanket and she held it, twining their fingers together. "I understand why. But you shouldn't have to wait for a perfect world to have a life. It will never happen. Don't you deserve some happiness? To have the honest relationship with your father where he can know the kind of son he raised?" She let go of his hand and started tracing the lines on his palm.

"I always worried about discovery. That was my greatest fear—that the alcalde would find out and tell you. That I wouldn't get the chance to talk to you and explain. I didn't think you'd understand. Or maybe that I would have to leave if I were discovered. I would never have left you. I have money. Supplies. Everything stashed if ever I had to run. I didn't know how I'd be able to convince you I was Zorro and the same night convince you to run away from everything you've ever known."

"I'm glad that didn't happen." The food, atmosphere and company had her happy right now, but she realized she probably wouldn't have reacted well to that situation. She started stroking his hair, and the worry lines eased from his face as he closed his eyes. "I think if we are going to make this work, your father needs to know. It might become obvious if Zorro and Diego aren't seen together if everyone is talking about the three of us. Don Alejandro can run interference."

"I never thought of that. I work so hard to stay in the shadows."

"We must separate it more. I can't simply leave Zorro for Diego. People would expect Zorro to be a man to fight for me." She grinned at him and he chuckled.

"So what's the plan?" Diego asked, reaching up to play with her hair again.

"I don't know. I guess next time you come into the pueblo… should you get mad at me for something…or should I be mad at Zorro?" Victoria wondered.

"I'm not sure which would be more believable to the alcalde. The alcalde hates me, so I think he'll be thrilled if you break my heart." He smiled up at Victoria and wondered if she might lean a little closer to kiss him. He looked beyond her to the sky and reconsidered. "Maybe we should head back. I don't want you to be missed and I need to speak with my father. You say he can help, maybe we should ask him first." He stroked a finger down her cheek and slowly across her lips, then abruptly sat up. When she sat up and started to clean up the picnic, he pulled her to stand next to him. "Don't worry about it. I'll come back later to clean up. No one ever comes here."

Victoria smiled up at him, swinging their joined hands back and forth gently between them. "Victoria," Diego warned. She stilled her hands, then brought her own hands with his behind her. "We need to go, Querida," Diego said firmly. She smiled beautifully when he called her that, and he left his arms around her when she slid her hands up his shoulders. Their breath mingled briefly before his lips pressed against hers once more. Diego's hands slid down from their innocent place at the small of her back, and Victoria gasped into his mouth. His fingers clenched briefly in the material of her skirt, but then he was pulling away.

"Come on. It's a long climb up. My father's not going to be happy with this secret courtship after all the times he's begged me to get married. We both need to think of an argument to stage."

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><p>And remember...every morning and often during my long, boring, painful days at work I check email to see if I got reviews. It's sad...really lol. But when I do get a comment, all is right with the world again!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Anybody still reading this one?

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><p>Diego looked for his father when he returned, but didn't find him. He found Felipe and they sat in the library as Diego filled the boy in on his afternoon. Eventually, talking about a future with Victoria made him forget his worries over the alcalde and telling his father. When Alejandro walked in a little later, Diego still didn't know how to begin.<p>

"Diego, where have you been? I was looking for you earlier," Alejandro asked.

"Oh, here and there. I had something I needed to check on." Felipe looked at Diego expectantly, but Diego shrugged, not knowing how to begin.

Diego gave his father an assessing look. "Father, what do you think of Zorro?" Diego sat back in the couch and tried to appear relaxed. Felipe rolled his eyes and did the same.

Alejandro looked at the two guys on the couch. "Zorro? Why? You never want to talk about Zorro. And he hasn't been seen since last week. I just came from the pueblo. It's been quiet, the alcalde hasn't been causing any trouble recently." Alejandro took a seat in the armchair across from the couch. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, Felipe was asking." He earned a wry look for that from Felipe. "We were talking about the law. Zorro is an outlaw. Would we be guilty if we didn't turn him in or try to capture him ourselves?"

"Don't you dare!" Alejandro exclaimed. "Without Zorro, Los Angeles would turn into a ghost town. No one would be able to survive the taxes the alcalde would try to impose, even us!"

"So you don't think he's an outlaw," Diego prodded. "You don't think he's a bad man."

"Diego, he's the best of all of us and I wish you'd tell me what you're talking about." Alejandro sighed as he sat back into his chair. Diego and Felipe shared a look and Felipe walked over to the fireplace to 'casually lean' against the fireplace. Diego smiled at his nonchalant expression as he pretended not to notice the door opening as he grinned back at Diego.

"We were wondering what to do if we ever found out who he was. Anyone who knew his identity would be in danger," Diego said as he got serious.

"If you ever found out, you better help him. I don't care how busy you are with your books or experiments." Alejandro stood and pointed at his son, then turned to Felipe. "The same goes for you. If Zorro needs help, you give it. I don't care what it is." Alejandro turned back towards his chair, but something caught his eye. Felipe had left the lamps burning in the cave, and from where Alejandro was standing, the open door was rather obvious.

Diego and Felipe waited for some reaction, but Alejandro just stared. Then he pointed. Diego asked what it was he was looking at, while trying not to smile. He wasn't worried anymore about his father's reaction, and was now rather looking forward to it. Felipe bent down to look into the fireplace, and with the exuberance of a teenager he overplayed a surprised reaction. Diego chuckled to himself as Felipe disappeared into the cave.

Diego stood and followed his father into the cave, closing the door behind him. Felipe stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest. The prince of his domain, as he grinned at Alejandro. Not getting the reaction he wanted, Felipe spread his arms out and spun in a circle, standing proudly in the middle of all he'd helped Diego create and accomplish. Diego slung an arm around his father's shoulder.

"I don't understand," Alejandro said. Felipe hit himself in the head with his palm, then ran over to the hat stand where Zorro's clothes hung. He held up Zorro's hat as if it should be obvious, then put the hat on and took the cape, too.

"You can't be Zorro," Alejandro said.

Diego walked around his father. "No, Zorro's taller. About my height, wouldn't you say, Father?" Felipe frowned as Diego took his hat back from the boy, but clipped the cape firmly on himself as Diego put on the black hat. He mimicked Felipe's gallant pose and they both smiled back at his father. "Felipe's the other half of Zorro. I couldn't do what I do without him." Felipe looked up in surprise at Diego and was blushing sheepishly when he looked back at Alejandro.

Alejandro finally shook himself out of his stupor and pointed at his son. "I knew it. I knew my son wasn't a coward. Getting lost…falling off a horse." Alejandro shook his head as he walked further into the room, looking around at all the scientific equipment. He turned back to Diego. "But why didn't you tell me? All that time? I knew something was going on but I didn't figure it out. How did I not figure it out?"

Diego took his hat off and playfully pushed it down over Felipe's eyes. He grabbed his sword, unsheathing it and handing it to his father. "I worked very hard to keep it a secret. And I owe it all to you. You set me up with Sir Edmund Kendall. That's his sword. He gave it to me when I bested him. He taught me how to fight, how to use my environment."

"Ah. That's why he expected you to fight with him against the soldiers when he visited." Alejandro shook his head as he handed the sword back. "I don't understand how I didn't figure it out."

"Well, so far no one has." Diego looked at Felipe, now sitting in his desk chair as if he owned the joint: feet propped on the desk, hat on his head, cape wrapped around him, and sword balanced on his shoulder in an exact imitation of Zorro. Diego laughed before sitting on the edge of the desk himself.

"I told Victoria today. She didn't know, either. I was getting sloppy. Felipe kept me going. I had to tell Victoria because I was becoming impatient." Alejandro narrowed his eyes at his son. Diego continued before he got a lecture. "Last night Victoria had an idea for us to be together. If she all of a sudden decided she didn't love Zorro and wanted to marry me instead, the alcalde would suspect. She said she could break it off with Zorro and I could sweep her off her feet while she's broken hearted." Diego smiled, getting lost in the memories of this afternoon.

"So that's why you never wanted to get married. You were with Victoria." Diego wasn't paying attention, obviously lost in thought that angered Alejandro. "I didn't raise you up to be a womanizer!" Alejandro scolded.

"Oh, stop. Victoria's honor is intact," Diego said as he refocused on his father. "But I did ask her to marry me last year. She said yes, but I was afraid to tell her who I was. Finally, I got to where I couldn't wait any longer. Victoria sounded so confident everything would work last night, I took her out this afternoon and told her everything. She wasn't as angry as I anticipated." Alejandro crossed his arms suspiciously as Diego's gaze went soft again, and Alejandro waited impatiently as Diego stared off into space. Finally Felipe kicked him and Diego came back to the present, blushing.

"So we figure we can use your help. Victoria's plan was for her to fight with Zorro, then I could court her as myself. But if Diego and Zorro are pursuing the same woman, people might look at me closer. I always stayed to the shadows, tried to go unnoticed. People might start to realize I look like Zorro and that we're never around at the same time. I thought you could help us plan something, and now that you know I'm Zorro you can help with excuses as to why Diego isn't around. Maybe you could arrange a marriage between Victoria and myself when she's angry at Zorro and vulnerable." Diego grinned, now eager to get on with things.

"What are you going to fight over? Everyone in the pueblo thinks you two are madly in love. Zorro would do anything for her."

"I kind of hoped you would have an idea." Diego shrugged. "So surprise, Zorro needs your help."

Alejandro laughed as he turned around to take in the cave. "All this time, my son was Zorro and your hideout was right behind my library. It's a little hard to grasp."

"I always wanted to tell you. I wasn't sure you'd approve. And I didn't want you to have to cover for me, or worry about me. So far we've done pretty well."

Alejandro looked around the cave once more before heading back toward the exit. "I'll say. But you sure do have some explaining to do. Let's go eat and we can discuss your plan. I need a drink."


	5. Chapter 5

Good or bad, here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Diego stared at his feet propped up on his desk later on that week. He was depressed again. He looked out of the window of The Guardian's offices and saw nothing threatening. No alcalde yelling for Mendoza. No hangings or punishments scheduled. Finally when Zorro needs an excuse to come in to the pueblo, the alcalde decides to behave. Maybe Zorro could come for a visit. It would look strange, though, and give little excuse for Victoria to get mad at him for something if he came only to see her.<p>

He sat up and stared at his desk, which was covered with an elaborate domino set up. Bored, he tipped one over and watched the cascade without interest. He didn't look up when someone entered, assuming it was Felipe. He sat back in surprise when the alcalde called his name. DeSoto looked out the door as if he hadn't wanted to be seen before closing it quietly behind him.

Diego narrowed his eyes at the man. He might not have killed him last week, but that didn't mean part of him still didn't want to. "Ignacio, to what do I owe the pleasure? Usually it's bad news for the paper when you show up. Want to try your hand at printing again?" Diego smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Diego, this is serious will you please be quiet?" Diego leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs on the desktop again. Diego didn't say anything, and DeSoto fidgeted around the office for a moment before bringing a chair from the printing press area and placing it near Diego's desk. He sat down, but didn't say anything.

"Alcalde, I'm busy. Why are you here?" Diego asked. DeSoto looked at the mess of collapsed dominoes on Diego's desk. Diego looked, too, but said again: "Very busy."

DeSoto rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. Then he leaned toward Diego again. "Nobody has seen Zorro since last Thursday."

Diego shrugged. "So what?" When DeSoto continued to stare, he continued. "I guess you haven't done anything stupid this week." DeSoto glared at Diego and he finally sat up straight, crossing his arms lazily on his desk and resting his head on a hand. "You're right, that is strange. Are you feeling alright, Alcalde?" Diego asked curiously. Now that Diego thought about it, it did seem strange. DeSoto had barely been seen around the pueblo since Thursday—the day he almost killed the man now sitting three feet away from him. He looked down at the desk, sorry for his actions even though he'd left DeSoto alive. He didn't believe in killing, and was ashamed that he'd come so close.

"You people and your hero worship. Zorro is an outlaw, but everyone seems to forget that fact!" DeSoto spat angrily.

"Well, when the people of Los Angeles need an outlaw to protect them from their government, this paper will stand with the outlaw," Diego responded.

"I came to see you, not to talk about the paper." Diego suddenly wished for his sword, but DeSoto looked distracted as he paced to the window and looked out. If DeSoto had figured out his identity, he wouldn't be standing here talking. Diego slouched casually back into his chair.

"Why would you come to see me?" Diego was curious and tried to relax.

DeSoto looked off into the pueblo for a long moment before coming back to sit in his chair. The nervous energy seemed to drain out of him, and he sat calmly, making Diego even more nervous. "I came to see you because you are a man of peace. Of science. You're smart. You don't approve of violence or killing."

"That's true. It's never seemed to concern you before. That still doesn't explain why you came here. You seem to enjoy violence."

"No! I don't enjoy violence." DeSoto squirmed a bit. "It's this town…" DeSoto waved away whatever he was going to say. "Zorro is a man of violence. He's always interfering with justice. How can you approve of him?"

DeSoto jumped as Diego's hand slammed rather loudly on the desk, though Diego kept his face passive. "I've never seen Zorro start a fight. You threaten and you tax and you arrest innocent people… you provoke him. You have a skewed vision of justice. You said it yourself, no one has seen Zorro this week. It must be because you've stayed quiet for a week. Rather a nice change, I think."

"You don't know him like I do, De La Vega. Last Thursday… I believe he tried to kill me."

Diego didn't know what to say for a long time. DeSoto had been overambitious in his chase of Zorro last week. Toronado could go where many other horses couldn't, but DeSoto wasn't going to let that stop him. His horse, however, knew his limits and tossed the man off his back and over a cliff. Diego was ashamed that he'd argued with DeSoto while he clung to some vines in the side of the cliff instead of pulling the man to safety right away. He'd even kicked dirt and rocks over the edge on top of DeSoto in a fit of anger when DeSoto refused to listen to reason. It wasn't until DeSoto actually started to fall when Diego had finally grabbed his hand. He'd even paused after that, holding his enemy over the deadly ravine briefly before pulling him up. Now he knew DeSoto had seen the temptation to let his enemy fall to his death.

"So this violent outlaw who has thwarted you for five years all of a sudden wants to kill you? If he's such a violent man, hasn't he been trying to kill you since you came to Los Angeles?"

"Don't be stupid, De La Vega." DeSoto growled as he paced the small office.

"Now I'm stupid? You said a moment ago I'm smart. Why is what I said stupid? What was different about last Thursday?" DeSoto glared at Diego. "Why don't you tell me why you're here."

DeSoto slammed his hands on Diego's desk, angrily leaning towards Diego. "I told you! Zorro almost killed me."

Diego waited for more. When DeSoto wasn't forthcoming, Diego sighed and started scooping dominoes back into their box. "Say I care. Say I pretend to be sorry. What am I supposed to do about it? I think the pueblo would be better off without you. We need someone who cares about the people here, not someone obsessed with squeezing every peso and drop of blood from the poor."

DeSoto stared at Diego in surprise, then collapsed back into his chair. It took him a long time before he spoke again. "Ok, so I don't think Zorro has ever tried to kill me before. But you have to believe me, something was different about him Thursday. He seemed so angry."

"And why was he angry?" Diego prodded.

DeSoto looked at Diego for another long moment. "Do you think this pueblo is run on sand? I must collect taxes! I have a responsibility to the Spanish crown, something everyone forgets here! Zorro steals the taxes I collect, I have to collect more. Or did you forget our sovereign is fighting a war?"

"And you think charging a tax for using the water in the center of town is not excessive at all?" Diego asked skeptically. "Is that a new jacket?"

DeSoto brushed imaginary dirt off his new uniform jacket. "A government official has a responsibility to look the part."

"Who's going to see you out here?"

DeSoto laughed. "Funny talk coming from you. You dress fancier than anyone in the pueblo." DeSoto gestured at Diego's baby blue jacket and ruffles.

"We aren't talking about me. Zorro didn't try to kill me for misuse of funds. And I use my own money, not money stolen from people who need that money to feed their children. "

"You're not helping me at all," DeSoto muttered.

"Am I supposed to be helping you? You want me to protect you from Zorro? Diego asked, grinning inside, finally accepting his actions from last week.

DeSoto laughed. "That's hilarious," DeSoto sneered. DeSoto brought his chair closer to the desk so he could fold his arms there like Diego. "Fine. So I'm not well liked." He glared at Diego's expression at that. "I don't like it here, either. I want to go home to Madrid."

Diego shrugged. "So leave. I'll even volunteer to buy your passage home." Diego smiled as he watched DeSoto struggle with his temper.

"I can't go home until I capture Zorro, can't you see that?"

Diego ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "So you want me to help you capture Zorro? Why would I do that?"

"Because it's your civic duty! Some loyal citizens. Every one of you is in league with that outlaw! I should throw you all in jail."

"Then who would pay your precious taxes?" Diego smirked.

DeSoto paced some more, telling himself he came to Diego for a reason. He came to sit close to Diego again.

"That man is a menace. He's like a ghost. He can get through locked doors. He wanted to kill me last week, and he can kill me any time he wants. The garrison is a joke. I have no protection here," DeSoto complained, almost to himself. Diego saw fear and anger warring inside the alcalde, but didn't know what to do about it.

"The answer is simple. Be the alcalde you were sworn to be. Stop oppressing the people. Collect only the taxes you need. Stop wasting the town's money," Diego gestured at his fancy new jacket. "Or next time maybe Zorro won't change his mind and will let you fall."

"You see? Even you agree he is capable of murder!"

"DeSoto, it wouldn't have been murder. He saved your life in the end, remember that," Diego said darkly.

DeSoto felt a shiver go down his spine at Diego's tone, and he stood to shake himself of it. "Whatever. I'll think of something else if you want to sit here and claim Zorro is innocent. I'll see him hang and I'll return to Madrid a hero. I'll figure something out on my own."

DeSoto stormed out of the office, and Diego closed his eyes as he tried to release the anger which had begun to tense his body again. He knew he'd have to think of a new plan, too. The alcalde was more dangerous in his current frame of mind. He stood and went to the window to watch the alcalde cross the plaza, only he didn't see him. He turned back around, forcing himself to relax and prepare for further discussion when the door opened again.

Only now he was facing a gun. Diego took a step back, but he was already standing against the wall. He looked from the barrel of the pistol to DeSoto's narrowed eyes.

"Let me fall," DeSoto repeated. "You said let me fall. What did you mean by that?" Diego cursed himself as DeSoto aimed the weapon a foot from his chest. "And don't move at all. Not even a ghost could survive a gunshot from this distance, and remember I love violence. I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Ok, so I love you all and I'm sorry I took so long. I never intended to leave Diego in a corner. And Kitten said I had to post it all so you get one nice long chapter. I hope you like.

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><p>Diego raised his hands, closing his eyes briefly so DeSoto couldn't read his immediate reaction. After a deep breath, he hoped he looked like the coward again. "What are you talking about? And why would you shoot me?"<p>

DeSoto was looking Diego over carefully, and Diego tried to slouch against the wall at his back without moving. "Why are you slouching? Stand up straight!" DeSoto yelled when he noticed.

"You told me not to move! Which is it? I'm afraid my legs are a little weak with a gun pointed at me. I don't like violence and I don't like guns, how quickly you forget." Diego responded, making his voice as mild as possible and ignoring all of his instincts to fight.

"Answer my question!" DeSoto shouted. Diego felt a stroke of panic as he realized DeSoto was angry, but not angry enough to make a mistake. The man was calm and deadly when he wanted to be, and Diego had nowhere to go. He was standing in a corner… no furniture, nothing to use as a weapon, the window too far away and the door blocking his exit rather than providing

one.

"What question? You asked why I was slouching. I didn't think I was slouching. Please put the gun down, it's making me rather nervous."

"As it should." DeSoto relaxed his body, but not his aim, and smiled wickedly. "I asked you what you meant by '_let me fall_'. And while you're at it you could also tell me how you know Zorro saved my life."

Diego sighed dramatically, slouching a little more and earning a more suspicious look from his enemy. "So I saw him. You never asked if I saw Zorro." Diego shrugged. "Last week I was looking for this fascinating bird I read about named the Masked Booby. The animal is actually a masked bird!" DeSoto waved the gun in warning when Diego started to get too excited and distracted over his find. Diego pouted and slouched back against the wall, raising his hands high again. "So naturally when I saw Zorro riding across my land last Thursday, I called him over to see. Sadly, he didn't seem too interested." Diego looked off into the distance, as if he couldn't understand Zorro not being fascinated by birds.

DeSoto made a frustrated sound, and Diego refocused on him. "So I know what happened last week, that's all! He told me what happened!" He raised his hands higher, and not all the nervousness he showed to DeSoto was fake.

"I don't believe you," DeSoto growled.

"What's to believe? How else would I know?"

"How else indeed. How come I've never seen you and Zorro together?" Diego tried to keep from glaring at the man. He'd never complain about having to play a timid caballero again, because trying to do so with a gun pointed at you was a hundred times harder. "And you are Zorro's height. And there was that time your father dressed up as Zorro."

Diego forced a dry laugh. "Are you trying to imply that I'm Zorro?"

Suddenly a shadow appeared as Mendoza ran up to the window and blocked the sun. Seeing the alcalde holding Diego at gunpoint, he gasped in surprise. "Alcalde! What are you doing?"

"Sergeant, go get your men. Arrest Diego immediately. And I want chains on his hands and feet at all times," DeSoto said.

"Diego? But why? And Alcalde, I was coming to tell you—"

"He was coming to tell you the governor is here," said a voice from behind DeSoto. "And you have five seconds to drop that gun you're pointing at my son," Alejandro ordered from behind the alcalde, finishing with a cock to his own pistol pointed at the alcalde's head.

DeSoto tensed, but did not lower his weapon or look away from Diego. "No. Your son is under arrest, and if you pull that trigger you kill your beloved traitor of a son as well."

"You would accuse a relative of the King of Spain?" came another booming voice from behind Alejandro.

DeSoto closed his eyes briefly and cringed, but didn't lower the gun. "Governor Clemente, you don't know who this man is," DeSoto said, glaring at the man he had cornered.

"That man is my son," Alejandro raised his voice as he pressed the gun more firmly against the alcalde's head.

"Zorro!" Mendoza suddenly shouted from his spot outside the window. "He is getting away!"

Mendoza's interruption was enough of a distraction. Diego had DeSoto's gun in his hand before DeSoto turned back to Diego. Diego held it up, waggling it back and forth by the muzzle in victory as he smirked at the fuming DeSoto. Alejandro lifted his gun away from DeSoto as well, sighing and shaking his head at his facetious and clearly inappropriate son.

DeSoto growled angrily at Diego, who lounged back into the corner. The corner DeSoto had him trapped in seconds ago. DeSoto pushed his shoulder sharply into Alejandro, grabbing the pistol out of the man's surprised hands and pushing Alejandro to the floor. _That's better_, DeSoto thought as he leveled Alejandro's gun at Diego.

"Alcalde what are you doing?" Mendoza cried from the window as Diego stood to his full height and leveled a killing glare at the shorter man.

"Touch my father again," Diego started, leaving the threat empty despite once again being at gunpoint.

DeSoto smirked as he heard Zorro's voice come out of the normally placid and timid caballero. "As I said, Mendoza," DeSoto tried to calm himself. "Arrest Diego." When no one moved, he added "immediately. Or shall I just shoot him now?" DeSoto asked as he raised the gun.

"But, Alcalde, didn't you hear me? Zorro is getting away! Don't you want me to chase him?" Diego couldn't help but look at Mendoza in confusion.

DeSoto backed up a little so he could glance at Mendoza and still keep the gun trained on Diego. "I told you to arrest him. He's not getting away this time."

Mendoza looked off into the distance for a few minutes, then looked back through the window. He scratched his head and removed his hat. "But Zorro is gone. I told you he was getting away. This time it is not my fault. We will never catch him now," Mendoza said tiredly, looking off into the distance again.

DeSoto was careful this time to keep his eye on Diego as he glanced at the sergeant. "I did catch him. He's right here. Now go get your men like I said." Mendoza looked at the other people in the room for an explanation. Diego shrugged innocently then looked overly-frightened again as DeSoto raised the pistol.

Alejandro righted himself with help from his friend the governor, who turned to address DeSoto. "Alcalde, you better start explaining yourself."

"As I was saying… this man is a seditious thief who tried to kill me last week," DeSoto accused.

Alejandro turned surprised eyes to his son, disappointed when he saw Diego wilt guiltily at DeSoto's accusation. His heart hurt at the thought of his son taking on so much responsibility alone. He'd wanted Diego to return a fighter, a leader. He'd never wanted this, though.

The governor walked around DeSoto, pushing into the arm holding his gun to glare at the alcalde. "That man has royal blood and is the son of a good friend of mine. Choose your words carefully." Without looking away from DeSoto's eyes, he pulled the gun from the alcalde's limp fingers.

_What was the governor doing here, anyway_? DeSoto thought as he took a step back from his superior. Wait… He turned to Mendoza. "What do you mean got away? Zorro is.." DeSoto began to point at Diego, but his arm was blocked by Clemente and he didn't finish his accusation.

"Zorro just rode out of town. I saw him ride in, but I thought you would want to know right away about the governor's visit." Mendoza smiled hesitantly at the formidable looking governor. "I see he has found you."

DeSoto turned to find Diego embracing his father. When he turned around after making sure his father was alright, Diego couldn't keep the triumphant simper off his face as he watched DeSoto clench his fists uselessly at his sides. Diego crossed his arms and relaxed against the door jamb, this time on the opposite side so he was free to escape if necessary. He backed up quickly as DeSoto advanced on him, but the alcalde only called to Mendoza and marched several feet outside the office.

"What do you mean Zorro was here?"

Mendoza was quickly putting on his hat and straightening his uniform, nervous at DeSoto's angry attitude. Mendoza pointed toward one of the gates to the pueblo, but DeSoto saw nothing. "Mi alcalde, I am sorry but he rode away so fast. And I was coming to talk to you. I didn't even know Zorro was here before he was riding away."

DeSoto turned to glare at Diego. "You saw Zorro. Just now, while I was in the office?" he asked Mendoza again.

Mendoza put a hand to his head and looked to the smirking Diego for help. "Madre de Dios don't you hear what I am saying? You were too busy talking to Don Diego." Mendoza smiled at the man. "Hello, Diego." He turned back to the alcalde. "Why did you want me to arrest Don Diego?"

DeSoto glared at Mendoza for a moment, then turned to glare at everyone else. With a final assessing look at Diego, he straightened his jacket and began to stalk back across the plaza towards his office.

Mendoza looked from the governor to the retreating alcalde and went after him. "Alcalde, what about the governor?"

DeSoto stopped suddenly, and Mendoza had to turn around after walking past him several steps. Mendoza watched as DeSoto fought some internal battle, then turned around to face the three men he'd just left. "Governor Clemente," he greeted as if he'd only now noticed the man. "What brings you to our pueblo?" DeSoto came back to stand a few feet away from the other three men.

"I came to tell you you're being recalled to Spain pending investigations," Governor Clemente announced.

"Investigations into what?" DeSoto snarled, scowling again at Diego, sure this was also his fault.

"Allegations of theft and abuse of power by the alcalde of this pueblo," the governor replied. "Don Javier Carroga has also come forward with some accusations about how you managed to get this posting. You are sailing back to Spain early tomorrow morning. Some of my men will see that you get there." Two men who had been casually leaning on a wall several yards away walked up to flank DeSoto.

"Sergeant Mendoza," Mendoza snapped to attention at the governor's command. "Go assemble your men over there by the cuartel gates. Don't let anyone come over here, do you understand?"

"Si, Governor Clemente, right away, sir." Mendoza paused with a suspicious look at all the men, but jumped to follow orders when the governor prodded him again.

"Am I under arrest?" DeSoto almost growled, taking a step away from the governor's men.

The governor looked at him, then back to Alejandro and Diego. "I wasn't going to, but you have a good point. I've now seen you attempt to murder a cousin to the King of Spain." He looked at the man to DeSoto's right. "Arrest him," Governor Clemente finished with a smile.

DeSoto launched himself toward Diego, but he didn't get very far as the two men behind him grabbed his arms mid-leap. The fact that Diego didn't look a bit alarmed brought another growl from DeSoto. Alejandro elbowed Diego when he chuckled.

Diego looked contrite, and turned to his father while rubbing his side where he'd been jabbed. "Want to tell me what's going on?" He tried not to enjoy watching DeSoto get forced to his knees to prevent further resistance. The man sure did have a lot of fight in him. He wondered what went wrong that he went to college, returned to California planning to become a civic leader, became an outlaw, and now he engendered such loathing from DeSoto.

"I didn't tell you Governor Clemente was here because you were gone when I woke up. I thought it would be a good idea to have someone appear as Zorro at the same time you were in town to clear you from any suspicion." Diego looked nervously at the governor, however the man didn't show any surprise. DeSoto, however, had quieted and was listening intently. He told himself to trust his father as he continued to speak.

"It took a lot of coaxing to convince that stallion of yours to allow Felipe to ride him. However, I think it worked pretty well. Or, it would have. You kept silent all these years because you didn't think we could keep your secret. Now, you tell DeSoto flat-out. What happened?"

"See? Governor, do you hear?" DeSoto scooted forward on his knees a few steps toward the governor, pleading his case. "That man is Zorro! It doesn't matter who he is, he's an outlaw!"

"So?"

DeSoto and Diego both wore such comical expressions of surprise, Governor Clemente had to chuckle. "Sir Edmond and I were friends. He told me when Diego left Spain that he had a student who would be perfect for any office where I needed both a diplomat and a fighter. When stories of a masked crusader started spreading soon after, I knew who it was. I didn't see any reason to step in, since you had things under control. I didn't know things had gotten so bad, however." With a wry look at Alejandro, he added, "I didn't realize your father didn't know, Diego. Son, you got me in a lot of trouble with that little secret!"

Alejandro popped his son in the back of the head for good measure. Diego rubbed the sore spot with a whine and a pout to his shorter father.

"What do you mean you knew?" DeSoto gasped.

The governor ignored him. "Anyway, I thought it was time for some changes. Sir Edmond recommended you for office, and I agree with him. Diego de la Vega, you are hereby appointed Alcalde of Los Angeles."

"No!" DeSoto's shout echoed through the plaza. "Governor, you can't—"

Governor Clemente didn't let him continue. He nodded to one of his men, who quickly wrapped a scarf around DeSoto's mouth, effectively gagging him. They helped him stand since his hands and feet were bound. "Ignacio DeSoto, you are hereby under arrest for abuse of office, theft, blackmail, false imprisonment and attempted murder on a member of the royal family." He looked at his men. "Take him to the jail, and he's to get no visitors until you leave for Spain in the morning. Is that understood?"

With sharp bows, the two men dragged the stunned ex-alcalde toward the jail.

Alejandro clapped his son on the back. "Alcalde Diego de la Vega! I love it. I'm proud of you, son."

"So, Alcalde," Clemente began with a nod across the plaza, "shall we go address your men?"

Diego rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Alcalde?"

The governor turned to face Diego. "No?"

"Diego," Alejandro said warningly.

"What, Father?" Diego cried with a shrug.

"He doesn't seem too enthusiastic about the appointment, Alejandro," the governor observed with a smile.

Alejandro crossed his arms and glared up at his son. "Do you know what you could do with this town as alcalde, Diego? You should be thanking the man. Why are you standing there fidgeting? Is Clemente right?"

Diego shrugged again. When both men kept staring at him, waiting for an answer, Diego ran his hands nervously through his hair. After several failed starts, Diego was finally able to put a few words together. "I left college expecting to find sleepy caballeros and everlasting boredom. I thought my father wanted me to marry, raise fat children and watch the vineyards grow." Diego shrugged again. "Well, I've been busy the past few years. Now I think I'd prefer boredom and marriage. If you don't mind. I'd like to relax and take care of the ranch for a change. And with me doing that, I think my father would be better suited to the office."

Alejandro looked at his son, stunned. The governor clapped him on the back. "Ha! It seems your son has his eye on a lady, Amigo. What do you say? Want to be alcalde again, Alejandro?"

"Diego, are you sure?" Alejandro asked his son. He followed Diego's stare across the plaza to see Victoria on the tavern porch talking to some caballeros. She eyed the assembling soldiers nervously several times over her shoulder, and he could tell she was trying not to look across the plaza at them.

"I'm sure, Father," Diego said with a smile.

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><p>I hope you review. Almost 3000 words, so that's like three chapters if you don't usually review every chapter…<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

And here it is, the sappy final chapter. I've also tried to clean up the previous chapters, so hopefully there are fewer typos now.

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><p>Once again, Diego stood in front of his mirror fidgeting with the ruffles on his shirt. He shouldn't be edgy this time, but he couldn't help the nervous excitement which made his hands tremble as he tugged again at his tie. He moved away from the mirror and caught sight of Felipe giggling behind him.<p>

"One day, this will be you and I will be the one laughing." Felipe covered his mouth to try to wipe the smile off his face. "Victoria's been waiting for this for a long time. What if she's expecting something more? What if she doesn't like them?"

Felipe rolled his eyes, walking over to straighten Diego's tie which he kept pulling askew. He brushed an invisible speck of lint of Diego's jacket, turned him toward the door and gave the taller man a shove. Diego let himself be propelled forward, but turned back before leaving his room to make sure Felipe was following.

They drove the covered cart into town, but waited until they saw Alejandro leading Victoria across the plaza into The Guardian office before pulling up to the back of the tavern. Alejandro had quietly emptied the tavern of guests, and was going to keep Victoria busy as Diego and Felipe set things up. Diego's nervousness melted away as they finished setting up and Felipe left him alone to await his future wife's return.

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><p>Victoria gasped as she walked back into her tavern. Now it all made sense. She couldn't imagine why Alejandro had dragged her out of the tavern, but apparently the De La Vegas had been busy. Every surface was covered with roses. She smiled as she saw purple roses draped over the bar, vases of red and white and pink and every color in between covering every table and even many of the benches. She took a few steps into the tavern, touching a petal here and there before picking up a rose that looked like it came from the cove. Their cove.<p>

She lifted it to her nose, inhaling the fragrant petals. She smiled at the empty room. But where was Diego? If this was his grand gesture, shouldn't he be here? She bent to pick up a vase which appeared to have fallen off of a table. She then saw more flowers on the floor, and a bench knocked over. Looking around nervously, she walked around the table, and this time her gasp was one of panic as the rose she held fell to the floor.

Before she could call out Diego's name, a hand came down over her mouth to muffle her scream. She was knocked to the floor and before she could get her breath back, her hands were quickly bound behind her. A scarf was wrapped around her mouth as she tried to call out to Diego again. He looked peaceful laying on the ground, but the blood on his temple and on his brilliant white shirt told her nothing was peaceful about this scene. She tried to see if he was even breathing as she was jerked back to her feet and roughly thrown down into a chair. Tears came to her eyes as she finally met the menacing glare of Ignacio DeSoto.

"There, now isn't that comfortable?" DeSoto snapped his fingers as if just remembering something, then wrapped more rope around her torso and already bound arms to tie her to the chair. She cried out against the gag as her wrists were pressed into painful angles when he pulled the rope tight enough to restrict her breathing. She looked back to the door, but that only seemed to remind DeSoto of her only avenue of rescue. He rushed over to the door to secure the locks. "We wouldn't want to be disturbed, now, would we?"

Victoria held her breath as she saw Diego's foot move. He was alive!

But DeSoto saw it, too. Diego was laying awkwardly on his hands, so Victoria had to assume he was tied up like she was. DeSoto hastily wrapped another piece of rope around Diego's legs, spending extra time to make sure they were tight. He stepped heavily on Diego's chest to get behind his head, and Diego was still groaning as DeSoto hefted his shoulders up off the ground so he could sit Diego against the wall. Victoria tried to think, to calm herself so she could find a way to get out of this mess. However, when fresh blood leaked onto Diego's white shirt where DeSoto had stepped, she couldn't control her tears.

Diego's head rolled back and forth against the wall and she pleaded silently for him to open his eyes and wake up. Fresh blood dripped from his hair into his right eye, but both eyes remained closed as he fought for consciousness. DeSoto looked over with an evil leer when she couldn't hold back a sob. "Oh, come now, he's fine." He walked over to the bar to grab a pitcher of water. Calling Diego's name loudly, he threw the water at Diego's face to help him wake up.

"I think I might have hit him too many times, Victoria, I am sorry. I do want him to be awake." DeSoto took another cloth and gently wiped Diego's face. "Let me get this powder off so you can open your eyes. I must say this science stuff is marvelous, thank you for the idea," DeSoto told Diego as bloodshot eyes finally opened and eventually focused on DeSoto. Before Diego could say anything, DeSoto shoved the cloth into his mouth.

Unfortunately, this set off painful choking as Diego tried not to inhale the powder which had seconds ago been blinding on his face. Diego closed his eyes to concentrate on slowing his breathing and fighting away the fog in his head. He felt DeSoto move away, and after a few more seconds trying to compose himself, he opened his eyes again. He worked his jaw and took a breath of clean air when he finally was able to work the gag out of his mouth.

DeSoto casually walked closer to Victoria, placing one hand on the back of her chair. Victoria bit her lip, concentrating on blocking out her fear so she wouldn't worry Diego. "Neither of us seem to have a sword at the moment, but I think this will do the job quite nicely," DeSoto said as he unsheathed a wicked-looking dagger. "I would keep my voice down if I were you."

"How did you get out of jail?" Diego rasped, struggling futilely against the ropes binding his hands.

"I learned it all from you, so I have you to thank," DeSoto smiled. "You escaped my jail, and I couldn't figure out how you did it. So I cheated and hid a key inside the cell in case I ever needed it. I guess you're not the only smart man in Los Angeles." Diego coughed as he inhaled more of the abrasive powder, and pushed back against the wall to recover from the pain crushing his chest and shooting through his head. "I also read a few books. How are your eyes feeling? Can you see us?" DeSoto leaned down and wrapped an arm casually around Victoria's shoulders to peer at Diego. He jumped back quickly as Victoria tried to hit him.

"Do you really think I'd let you become alcalde?" He asked Diego, toying with the dagger he held. DeSoto sneered at Victoria. "Let a waitress become an alcalde's wife? You should have killed me when you had the chance," DeSoto told Diego, pointing at him with the knife.

"I never wanted to kill you, Ignacio," Diego sighed.

"Oh, but you did, don't you remember?"

"And I'm not alcalde. I told him no," Diego said, but he didn't expect that to change DeSoto's mind.

"You turned it down? You think you're too good to be alcalde? Well, it's too late now. I'm in control again." DeSoto paced a slow circle around Victoria. "You said I enjoy violence. I will enjoy this. But how should I do it?" He looked to Diego for advice. Diego tried to pull away from the wall but collapsed back against it. His head was pounding and it felt like every rib in his chest had been crushed. "I am a little pressed for time, but I do owe you. Why all the flowers? Did you accidentally get her pregnant? Whatever will your father think? I'll be doing him a favor when I kill her."

He came to stand directly behind Victoria, brandishing the knife again. "Speaking of your father, how much time do you think I have before he interrupts us? Does he expect you to be spending the night here, or will he be returning any second? Should I do it quick and sudden, or draw it out? Make it hurt like you've hurt me time and time again ever since I came to this pueblo?"

"Why hurt her at all? It's me you want," Diego said over the pounding in his head. "Victoria had no idea who I was. She's innocent in this."

DeSoto laughed. "Oh, I doubt that. You said I love violence. I must endeavor to live up to my reputation. I can't return a hero, but I will kill you. Killing your woman is a bonus. Can you see from over there? Maybe I should move her closer." Diego pulled his legs into his chest to try to push against the wall and stand up as DeSoto ran the blade of the knife threateningly across Victoria's throat. "Poor Victoria. You never should have gotten involved. Alejandro would never let Diego marry you anyway."

Loud noises suddenly erupted. Something hit hard against the tavern door and DeSoto smiled as he watched the brace hold. "They must have discovered my escape. Quick it is, then." More loud bangs, and Victoria's eyes widened as the knife fell from DeSoto's hands harmlessly. A dark red circle started spreading down DeSoto's chest. Victoria heard footsteps behind her, but she couldn't take her eyes off that red stain.

"Don't put words in my mouth," Alejandro said angrily before firing a second pistol at DeSoto. Diego relaxed back into the wall at his back, his entire body limp with relief as he watched DeSoto fall to his knees. Victoria started a violent and panicked struggle against her bonds as it looked like he was going to collapse against her. Alejandro rushed over to move the dying man to the floor out of her sight. She had to force herself to remain still as Alejandro took the knife to cut her ropes.

As soon as her hands were free, she grabbed the knife and rushed to Diego. She held her hands away from him as she kneeled by his side, afraid to touch him. He was leaning too heavily against the wall for her to reach behind him. He still struggled to open his eyes and catch his breath after his last futile attempt to stand. His head leaned closer to her, though. "Are you alright? … He didn't hurt you?"

"Hurt _me_? Diego, you're bleeding." She wiped the blood from his eye from a vicious gash on his forehead. Tears ran down her face as she looked to Alejandro for assistance. Alejandro was followed by several soldiers after opening the tavern door, and he sent one to fetch a doctor. Alejandro cut Diego's arms free as gently as he could, but Diego still coughed as he reached for Victoria.

"You swear you aren't hurt, Querida?" Diego whispered as he ran his fingers gently over her neck.

"I'm not hurt." She looked up as Dr. Hernandez knelt on his other side. "Now be quiet and let us take care of you for a change."

"Wait!" He said, panicked as she started to back away from him. She leaned in to place her forehead gently against his, touching his face and reassuring him that she wasn't leaving him.

"I'm not leaving you. I'm right here, but you don't sound so good. Let Dr. Hernandez look at you." She leaned out of the doctor's way, keeping tight hold of one of his hands. He flinched as the doctor began prodding at his chest, and Victoria tried to distract him. "Why is my tavern full of roses, Diego?"

Diego took a careful breath and smiled at her as the doctor stopped poking him. "You wanted romantic. Is this romantic enough?" Her entire face lit up with a brilliant smile and she couldn't stop herself from leaning over to kiss him, audience or not. When she let him up for air, he reached into his coat and held up the ring she'd returned to him last week. "Victoria Escalante, will you marry me?"

Seeing the ring reminded her of their conversation. Of the vicious things DeSoto had said not ten minutes ago. She glanced up at Alejandro who was kneeling on Diego's other side. Alejandro reached a hand across to lay it on her shoulder. "Of course you have my blessing." He leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Welcome to the family."

The End

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><p>I am so happy if you've read this story all the way to the end. I hope everyone enjoyed it! Thanks to everyone who helped me finish—those that chatted and those who reviewed. I love seeing the traffic from other countries. It makes me wonder how my story reads in other languages. I will be finishing Mendoza soon, and I have a few other stories started. I hope you read those when I post.<p>

Now that it's complete, I hope everyone will click on that link that says "review this chapter". Don't you want to voice your opinion? I just enabled anonymous reviews, I didn't know that was a setting before. I do hope you'll sign them though. Work is going to be really rough this week, and I know I'll be checking my email every five minutes to see if I have a review or comment. Even if you read this story six months from now, imagine how happy I will be when I get a new review! Feed my review addiction!


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